Chapter 172: Entering The Secret Room

"Why doesn't it work?" Jim opened his eyes and glanced at the token while Lim couldn't help but laugh.

"It's a mere fantasy buddy, don't take it to heart. Someone must have pulled a trick over you, and you just fell into it and dragged me along."

Lim shook his head while Jim kept glancing at the token.

'First time always takes some time,' the old man suddenly said.

And then Jim felt a sudden heat in the token in hand before the token broke free and vibrated while flying on itself in the middle of the big room.

"What… is going on?" Lim asked while his eyes were fixed over the token.

"It's opening," Jim simply said before the next moment a golden light shone off the medal, falling over a nearby wall where a door was suddenly illuminated there in golden sun rays.

"This…" Lim stood up as the door wasn't there before, "is this mansion enchanted or what?"

Jim laughed at his misunderstanding, yet he didn't correct him for now. "Come, let me show you everything first hand," he moved towards the door while Lim paused in his place watching him in silence.

And his face said everything about his own shock.

"Come," Jim simply grabbed the flying medal before going to the door and opened it, "don't slack behind or else you won't be able to enter."

Lim was jolted awake before moving fast after Jim. And the two entered through the door before it closed up, and the door vanished like it was never there.

The next thing the two saw was a similar class like what Jim envisioned before. The class was wide, with many seats and a central stage there, but no doors or windows in the place.

The lights came from the walls, ground, and ceiling itself. They shone in dim light that coalesced together to form a friendly atmosphere to their eyes.

"What is this place?" Lim couldn't help but ask in amazement. "Is this the inner campus? Wait… I know this place… it's the spell class!"

"It's," Jim nodded, "but it's not," and he shook his head while Lim glanced in doubt towards him.

'This is inside a secret place of the academy, one of those rumored places you heard about.'

"No f*cking way!" Lim was shocked, "how can you get something like that?"

"The mean isn't the issue," Jim went calmly towards the central stage before turning to stupefied Lim and added, "the main problem is how to use this place for our advantage."

"Our advantage… what do you want to do exactly?" Lim felt the attitude and words of his captain held deeper meanings to them.

"As you know the expedition is coming next in three days," Jim said, "and I plan to form a group, a secret group where we all train together and get stronger."

"…"

The face of Lim went pale the next moment before Jim added, "It's not only for this expedition, but it's for everything. We have the battlefield in one month, and also the arena. Many challenges are waiting for all of us and if we aren't well prepared then we will lose what we can't afford to."

"B- But… who said anyone would accept to join?" Lim stuttered before adding, "this is a secret group man… one of the taboos inside the academy. How will  you even protect the secret?"

"No one can enter here without my permission," Jim simply said, "not even the dean of the academy himself."

And his words left a deep impact over his friend before adding, "as for those who would join, they would be mainly from the inner campus."

"Why do you think they'll listen and come?"

"Because we are the middle ring, the one with nothing to achieve or a chance to reach glory like those core disciples. We are the ones who aren't trash like the outer disciples or the ones with guaranteed glory like core disciples."

Lim glanced in silence while he related well to his words. "But this isn't enough," he couldn't help but say, "we know our place in the world and won't think to change it."

"Of course, but do you think all the inner disciples are resigned to such fate? Or even those who plan to serve their entire lives higher ones would have such a chance?"

Lim understood his meaning while Jim added:

"For those who are just numbers in any pantheon, I'm giving them a chance to shine and really be something there. Who knows, they might even ascend the ladder and shift the tables and be the core disciples instead."

"That's… quite hard to achieve," Lim couldn't help but bitterly say, "those core disciples are the direct descendants of the big names out there. They have all the support and even the innate talents they had since their birth to be supreme. We can't easily antagonize them and challenge their places using the arena."

Lim understood perfectly what Jim wanted to say, but Jim wasn't fazed by his logic. "We need to try," Jim said, "after all we can't fail without even trying to succeed, right?"

"Sigh, but this is a doomed attempt to fail… plus who is going to teach us? Have you found any lunatic masters to help?"

"I'll teach," Jim threw another bomb in his face, making Lim glance in weirdness towards him.

"No offense man, but you have no credibility to depend upon."

"I don't care," Jim shrugged, "after all this place would host the meetings of our team and their training. If others come then it would be more fun, but if not then I won't complain."

"You plan to drag them as well?"

Lim was shocked when he heard these words. He never thought Jim meant the team by his words and all the time he mistook that for other disciples only in the campus.

"Sure, they are my team and my friends. They need to get stronger fast and gain all the support they deserve."